Day 01: Bee
My absolute favorite flower to spot on trails: bunchberry.
Peachtober 2023.
I wanted to take a break from my usual October drawing challenge that yields an inventory poster. A quick look through the prompt list made me think that I could make it hiking themed.
Instead of choosing a color palette for the whole thing, I picked individual 4 color palettes for each piece, which ended up being a totally different kind of challenge. A few times I completely switched colors halfway through. If an idea just wasn't working, 4 out of 5 times, the colors were just all wrong.
Prompt List with My Initial Ideas and Final Ideas:
1. Bee (Flower and Bee)
2. Cosmos (Northern Lights)
3. Sweet (Pop Tarts with Bite)
4. Grub (Ramen in Pot)
5. Sprig (Small Branch)
6. Eye (Headlamp)
7. Crater (Footprint/Animal Tracks)
8. Dream (Sleeping Bag in Tent)
9. Blue (Blue Blaze)
10. Citrus (Orange and Peel)
11. Pencil (Shelter Book/Trail Log)
12. Nest (Tent/Shelter)
13. Ship (Re-supply Box and Bear Vault)
14. Garden (Rhododendrons)
15. Weather (Storm Clouds with Mountain in Distance)
16. Sidekick (Snufkin on Backpack)
17. Blush (Sunburns)
18. Snooze
19. Candle (Campfire/Camp Stove)
20. Bulb
21. Slingshot (Trail Signs with Direction Routes)
22. Tunnel (The Green Tunnel)
23. Message (Shelter Log/Cairn)
24. Wand (Trekking Poles)
25. Coral (Sunset at Todd Harbor)
26. Ladybug (Ladybug on Leaf)
27. Pond (Water Source and Bottles/Feet in Water)
28. Chomp (Candy Bar wit Bite/Mosquito)
29. Float (Stepping Stones in Water)
30. Moss (Moss on Moose Skull)
31. Spooky (Eyes in Darkness)
The first piece always sets the tone for the rest of the month. I spent a lot of time trying to figure this out. How detailed I wanted to get, how abstract I wanted it, and how the scenes themselves would be treated.
Day 02: Cosmos
This one I could envision so clearly in my head and the sketch was just right but once I started laying in the color, it kept going wrong. I knew I wanted to do the Northern Lights for this prompt, something that I still haven't seen for myself out in the wild yet.
Day 03: Sweet
Day 04: Grub
Boy, did this one give me trouble. The colors made it so tough, and these were the second set of colors that I settled on. Both were extremely Pop-Tart appropriate, just different flavors, if you will. But the values were just so similar, I kept feeling like I was getting lost from anywhere other than close up. That and the composition felt off to me. This one felt less like a scene and more like my old inventory style pieces.
Day 05: Sprig
Day 06: Eye
Day 07: Crater
The first time I went to Isle Royale, the wolves were exclusively on the Windigo side of the island, so I never saw any signs of them. On this recent trip, wolf tracks were unavoidable. They were everywhere in the mud running up and down the ridge.
Day 08: Dream
Day 09: Blue
Day 10: Citrus
Day 11: Pencil
Normally I don't like going super literal with these prompts, but I drew such a blank with this one. Anyone who's ever done a thru hike knows the absolute bliss of fresh fruit. Every chance I get, whether it's stopping in town, or at a resupply, I indulge in one piece of ripe, fresh fruit. Anything more is pressing your luck with your stomach once you get back on trail.
I love signing trail registers. Not just for the data and safety, but for leaving your mark along with all the people who came before you.
Day 12: Nest
Day 13: Ship
This one stressed me out! I've mailed myself a lot of re-supply boxes over the years. Most are just USPS boxes filled with baggies of trail mix, protein bars, bags of peanut butter m&m's, Pop-Tarts, rice cakes, etc. They get mailed ahead to a post office or a general store and they get held until pick up. (The most annoying was a 5 gallon bucket that had to be mailed to a horse farm.)
Then I spend an hour or two re-stocking my bear vault, experiencing a wave of disappointment at what I chose to mail to myself.
Day 14: Garden
Day 15: Weather
Day 16: Sidekick
Snufkin has been my hiking companion for years. Unless it's raining, he hangs from my pack while I hike.
Day 17: Blush
Day 19:Candle
My dinner set up has been perfected. The Moomin mug is also my most impractical piece of gear, but it's a must pack for the joy it brings. It's awkward and it doesn't really fit well anywhere. Even if I didn't store my gas can in my pot, the Moomin mug wouldn't fit in there.
Day 21: Slingshot
Day 22: Tunnel
I've done a lot of hiking on the Appalachian Trail in the general New England area, otherwise known as the Green Tunnel. It can get a little monotonous, but there is something deeply soothing about winding through this deep, leafy tunnel.
Day 24: Wand
My hiking poles always get staked outside my tent. Usually there's a pair of damp socks on them, drying in the sun.